Credit: Terrell Clark for The Hechinger Report With tens of millions of workers now unemployed and needing to learn new skills, President of Western Governors University, Scott Pulsipher and I discuss how investment and the pace of innovation need to increase to create a better equipped and more equitable workforce. Read more in The Hechinger Report.
The most important COVID-19 education story is one nobody’s telling
With all of the coverage on the state of education during COVID-19, one important topic is being overlooked. Half of the US labor market is comprised of middle-skill workers. These are the people on the frontlines right now, the ones who are eligible for open roles in key industries, but the ones who are not being […]
How to Break the Unemployment-Enrollment Link
As posted on FosterEDU A simple, yet troubling rule of thumb drives enrollment to community colleges, for-profit colleges, and some four-year open-access institutions. As reported by Inside Higher Ed, employment and unemployment rates drive spikes in enrollment at these institutions, and play a much greater correlation than other population trends. It’s a logical and consistent […]
How Career Colleges Can Help Promote Careers in STEM Fields
As posted on FosterEDU blog Post-secondary enrollment rates are on the rise, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.1 In fall 2012, 17.7. million undergraduate students were enrolled in a degree-granting postsecondary institution, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Undergraduate enrollment is on the rise, and expected to increase to 20.2 million […]
Reversing the Ripple Effect With High School & College Graduation
As posted on the FosterEDU blog The U.S achieved an 80% high school graduation rate in 2012, a triumphant milestone for education. But the remaining 20% still represent a population of young people who not only exclude themselves from a future of opportunity, but inadvertently produce negative consequences for higher education, local job markets, communities, and […]
Testimony on Preparing Today’s Students for Tomorrow’s Jobs: A Discussion on Career and Technical Education and Training Programs
Presented to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education by Frank F. Britt, CEO, Penn Foster September 20, 2013 Good Morning, Chairman Rokita, Congressman Grijalva, and esteemed members of the committee, my name is Frank Britt. I am the CEO of Penn Foster – a leader in career-focused online and hybrid education with […]
Why Students, Parents & School Administrators Need to Reconsider Manufacturing Career Paths
This post was written by Frank Britt, CEO of Penn Foster, and Jan Bray, president of Bray Strategies and former executive director of the Association for Career & Technical Education. In the movie “The Graduate,” Dustin Hoffman’s character Benjamin, a recent college alumnus, received one word of advice about where he should invest his future: Plastics. Today, […]
Minding the Gap
A big topic and conversation in our workforce is centered around the skills gap — some experts argue there is no such gap, but our work with businesses and students across the country tells us otherwise. We have no doubt that the skills gap is indeed preventing employers from finding the talent they need. At […]
